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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. roll — a list
  3. degree — an amount
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. roll — a cake
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. degree — from a university
  9. foot — a measure
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. tear — to rip
  13. field — farmland
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. tear — from crying
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. stand — to bear
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. trunk — of a car

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com